Holiday-makers to a Gold Coast resort are being urgently told to throw away a complimentary hand sanitiser after it was found to be contaminated with a toxic ingredient.

The Paradise Resort Gold Coast gifted 60-millilitre bottle of Dr Schwartz hand sanitiser to visitors between August 31, 2020, and January 6.

On Thursday, the consumer watchdog urgently recalled the product after it was found to have traces of methanol, a highly toxic ingredient that can cause serious and irreversible injuries or even death if ingested.

Anyone who has the hand sanitiser should stop using it immediately and dispose of it.

Larger 200-millilitre bottles of the same sanitiser that were available to guests at the resort were also found to contain methanol. However, the Australian Consumer and Competition Commission said these weren’t given to guests.

Paradise Resort Gold Coast had contacted previous guests to advise them to discard the hand sanitiser and all remaining stock had been surrendered to Queensland Health, general manager David Brook said.

“Over the five-year period, the sanitiser never caused any issues to guests or staff,” he said.

“The recall occurred after one guest inappropriately consumed two bottles of the sanitiser, causing a medical reaction.”

The inappropriate use led to Queensland Health taking samples, finding that rather than only containing ethanol, as stated in the consignment delivery, the sanitiser also contained methanol.

NSW Health authorities have urged residents to throw the sanitiser in the general waste while reminding them to only use the products as intended by following the label instructions.

“High concentrations of methanol are not permitted in alcohol-based hand sanitiser or any product used by the public,” they said.

The product maker, Schwartz Family Company, has been contacted for comment.

-AAP